1965-67 recordings for John Dolphin’s Los Angeles label, including — amongst numerous original compositions by Bettye herself — the classic chart-topper Make Me Yours.

‘10/10 Pop music as it should be: beautiful, heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting’, NME; ‘*****’, Mojo.

Wayne Shuler always recorded Bettye with a black audience in mind, and despite the high proportion of country songs these are definitely soul records, though like nothing else from the time. Bettye never sings with the desolation of O.V. Wright, the hurt of Percy Sledge, or the sheer pain of the final Linda Jones records. There’s a southern feel to these Swann-Shuler recordings, but they also have a light, almost poppy quality to them. Sometimes they sound like the missing link between Muscle Shoals and Motown.

The LP here is a worthy reissue by Music On Vinyl of the classic Honest Jon’s compilation, on its twentieth anniversary; the CD is from back in the day.

This is the first-ever overview of Bettye Swann’s career, from Money to Capitol, Fame to Atlantic. The stuff with Wayne Shuler on our own compilation is some of the greatest soul music there is — but this is a must for its inclusiveness, and full of treasures.

Misdemeanour is an irresistible Jacksons-style rare groove classic. Nicked from Dee Clark, arranged by Jerry Peters, sampled by Dre.
Here’s Foster aged eleven, smashing it on Soul Train in 1973, with sisters Angela and Patricia. (Not to mention his bros’ ‘fros.)

Stone classic disco heaven; and a scarcely known, tripping, randy little Fuqua of an instrumental version of I Need Somebody, on the flip.
The first reissue of these two superb 7’ edits since back in the day.

Ace, freaky deaky boogie — dense, extrovert and synthy — originally out on Oil Capital.

Hypnotic, infectious space-funk from Chicago’s south side — and some bedroom funk on the flip —  produced by Staple Singer’s engineer Don Greer in 1980.

Outstanding, spiritualised jazz-funk; keenly focussed but free and warm; steeped in post-bop and wide-open to r&b; somewhere between Lonnie Liston Smith’s Cosmic Echoes and Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity. Plenty here for dancers, chin-strokers and dreamers all.
The personnel discloses generous musical co-ordinates… Marvin Blackman from the Rashied Ali Quartet is here, and Ryo Kawasaki. James Mason and Justo Almario were later collaborators. Just a couple of years before this, Tarika Blue leader Phil Clendeninn was playing in a New York funk outfit alongside Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards…